Belize

In the 1990s, The Carter Center worked alongside the Belize government to increase institutional transparency and lead a moratorium on arms sales to build peace in the region.

Impact

Initiated project and meetings to ensure government transparency and improve anti-corruption efforts
Secured a pledge to accept a two-year moratorium on major arms purchases

Legacy

Peacebuilding

The Carter Center and its Council of Presidents and Prime Ministers of the Americas initiated a multiyear project working with governments and civil society groups to develop ways to ensure transparency in government transactions and serve as a worldwide model.

At a high-level conference in May 1999, leaders from across the hemisphere – including Belize Prime Minister Said Musa – came to The Carter Center to evaluate anti-corruption efforts and seek commitments from other governments to implement similar strategies in their own countries.

Concerned about an arms race in Latin America in the late 1990s, the Carter Center’s Council of Presidents and Prime Ministers of the Americas urged governments to pause before making major arms purchases. Former Belize Prime Ministers Manuel A. Esquivel and George Price were among 14 former and 28 current heads of government to sign a pledge accepting a two-year moratorium on purchasing sophisticated weapons.